WESTERN TANAGER. 



28 



The following table shows the percentages of the various items of 

 food of the linnet for each month of the year : 



Table of percentage of food of the linnet for eaeh month in year. 



January 



February ., 

 March .".... 



April 



May 



June 



July , 



August 



September , 



October 



November , 

 December. 



Month. 



Total.... 

 Average. 



Number of 

 stomachs 

 examined. 



35 



186 



80 



74 



167 



148 



118 



123 



108 



25 



54 



1,206 



Animal 

 food 



eaten. 



Percent. 

 . 0.0 

 2.9 

 1.0 

 5.8 

 6.3 

 3.9 

 2.2 

 7.1 

 0.1 

 0.0 

 0.0 

 0.0 



2.4 



Vegetable food eaten. 



Weed 

 seed. 



Percent. 

 99.8 

 97.1 

 89.5 

 92.5 

 88.9 

 81.6 

 76.5 

 64.0 

 71.6 

 83.5 

 91.7 

 97.8 



86.2 



Fruit. 



Percent. 



0.2 



0.0 



5.8 



1.7 



4.8 



13.4 



19.7 



27.4 



26.7 



15.6 



8.3 



1.8 



Miscel- 

 laneous. 



10.4 



Percent. 

 0.0 

 0.0 

 3.6 

 0.0 

 0.0 

 1.2 

 1.5 

 1.5 

 1.6 

 0.9 

 0.0 

 0.4 



0.9 



Total 



vegetable 



food. 



Percent. 



l-)0. 



97.1 



99.0 



94.2 



93.7 



96.1 



97.8 



92.9 



99.9 



100.0 



100.0 



100.0 



97.5 



WESTERN TANAGER. 



( Pira nga ludovictana. ) 



The western tanager, like the robin, occasionally becomes a nuisance 

 in the orchard. It breeds in the mountainous regions of California 

 and northward, and as a rule is not common in the fruit-growing 

 sections. 



DAMAGE TO fllERRY CROP. 



There are, however, times during migration when it fairly swarms 

 in some of the fruit-raising regions, and unfortunately this sometimes 

 happens ju.st at the time when the cherry crop is ripening. The bird 

 is a late breeder and does not seem to care to get to its nesting ground 

 before the last of June or early July. It is thus enabled to begin in 

 the southern part of the State when cherries are ripening there, and 

 leisurely follow^ the ripening fruit northward. The year 1896 wit- 

 nessed an incursion of these tanagers, when they ■SAvarmed over much 

 of the State and destroyed a large part of the cherry crop. 



Probably the best account of this occurrence is that of AV. (). Emer- 

 son (j)ublished in the Condor, Vol. V, 1903, p. G4). Mr. Emerson 

 says: 



Oii(> of the most wondorful occurrences of the movements of birds in tho sea- 

 son of niif^ration which ever came under my notice, took phice at Hay ward 

 dnrint,' May. 1800, when conntk^ss numhcrs of Firaiii/a ludovieiana. or Louisiana 

 lana^'ci's. hcf^'au to malce their appearance between May 12 and 14. From the 

 18th to the 22d they were to be seen in endless numbers, moving off through the 

 liills and canyons to tlieir sunnner l)reeding range in tlie mountains. This con- 

 tinued till the 28th, .and l)y .Tune 1 only here and theri' a stragt,dini: member of 



